Elesh Norn returns to rule over all in Phyrexia: All Will Be One

Magic: The Gathering will release its first Standard set for 2023 Phyrexia: All Will Be One on 10 February.

In the third arc of the four-part Phyrexian invasion storyline, players must brace themselves as Elesh Norn successfully starts her invasion against the multiverse after a team of Planeswalkers fail to stop her in New Phyrexia, which sees some fan favourites get the Phyrexian glam-up otherwise known as compleation.

This new set will introduce a few new mechanics: Toxic, Corrupted and For Mirrodin!

With the new keyword Toxic, poison counters are back in Standard again. Toxic is found on several Phyrexian creatures in this set, and any time a creature with Toxic deals combat damage to a player, the player gets poison counters equal to the toxic value of that creature.

For example, when a creature like Tyrranax Rex deals combat damage to a player, that player will get 4 poison counters because Tyrranax Rex has Toxic 4.

Toxic is very different from the OG poison counter keyword Infect. Infect deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters, and players with only poison counters.

Toxic only works when combat damage is applied, and creatures with Toxic will also deal normal damage. If a 10/10 creature with Toxic 1 deals 10 combat damage to your opponent, your opponent will only receive 1 poison counter.

Remember, the first player to get 10 poison counters also loses the game, which means you're gonna need to start blocking.

Toxic will also work with other keywords like Trample, and Double Strike.

Even if Tyrranax Rex is blocked by a 1/1 creature, your opponent will still receive 4 poison counters because it has Trample, and combat damage is still dealt to your opponent.

Toxic can also stack, so if you enchant Tyrranax Rex with Necrogen Communion, Tyrranax Rex will have a combined Toxic 6.

With poison counters a prominent feature of this set, the new keyword Corrupted makes some cards more powerful if an opponent has three or more poison counters.

Corrupted can either be an activated (in the case of Sinew Dancer) or static (in the case of Bonepicker Skirge) ability on permanents.

Corrupted can also be found on some instants and sorceries: Bring the Ending is one such instant which becomes a more powerful counterspell the moment your opponent has three poison counters.

The next new mechanic is For Mirrodin! which is a triggered ability found on some Equipment in the set.

For example, when you cast Dragonwing Glider, it will enter the battlefield unattached, but For Mirrodin! will trigger and you will create a 2/2 red Rebel creature token before attaching Dragonwing Glider to it.

Voila, you now have a 4/4 angry Rebel who has flying and haste.

You can also equip the Dragonwing Glider to other creatures by activating its Equip cost at sorcery speed, just like every other Equipment.

Phyrexia: All Will Be One will also introduce oil counters, which are not (in any way) a keyword ability.

Some permanents in this set will come with oil counters, have the ability to produce them, or move them around.

These oil counters can be interacted with for other effects, such as the artifact Tamiyo’s Immobilizer, which allows you to tap down any artifact or creature as long as you remove an oil counter from Tamiyo’s Immobilizer.

Besides these new mechanics and a brand new counter, a mechanic previously seen on Mirrodin, Proliferate, is returning to Standard.

First introduced in Scars of Mirrodin, Proliferate is set to make a new storm as it works in tandem with every kind of counters (i.e. poison counters).

Whenever a player proliferates, they may choose any permanents and/or players with counters on them, and place another of each kind of counter that are already on the permanents and/or players.

For example, you can sacrifice Cankerbloom to proliferate to add an additional poison counter if your opponent has one or more poison counters.

Proliferate will also work with oil counters, +1/+1 counters, Planeswalker loyalty counters, and other kinds of counters.

Remember, Proliferate is an all or nothing. If your creature has a +1/+1 counter and a stun counter (from Streets of New Capenna) on it too, you can either proliferate both counters on it or choose to completely ignore the counters on this particular creature.

To commemorate the horror of Elesh Norn and her Phyrexian horrors, Phyrexia: All Will Be One will feature different showcase treatments.

40 cards will feature Ichor showcase art, while 10 Planeswalkers (5 compleated, 5 unaffected what-if versions) and 5 Mirran creatures will have special manga art.

Last, Elesh Norn, the Mother of Machines and the new big bad Thanos of the Magic multiverse, will of course have her own unique manga art, drawn by Japanese horror manga artist Junji Ito.

Phyrexia: All Will Be One will be available as Draft Boosters, Set Boosters, Collector Boosters, Jumpstart Boosters, Commander decks, Bundles and a special Compleat: Bundle Edition.

Jay Chan plays a lot of Dota 2 and MTG. He's terrible in Dota 2 and a scrub in MTG, and maybe spends too much money on both games.

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